The middle football-playing Gronkowski brother, fullback Chris, made his Broncos media room debut Friday, about a week after Denver traded with Indianapolis to add to him to the roster. The Broncos sent cornerback Cassius Vaughn to the Colts in exchange for Gronkowski.

So being that those here in Denver know at least a little bit about Dan, and, well, everyone in the NFL universe (and probably beyond) knows about Rob, I asked Chris how he is similar and different to his other NFL brothers.

After he was waived by the Broncos on Saturday, Gronkowski has signed with the New England Patriots. That’s good enough news on its own for a good young player whose time in Denver was brief. But I can only imagine how excited Gronkowski is to be a Patriot, alongside his younger brother Rob, the Patriots’ second-year star-in-the-making tight end.

Darcel McBath returns an interception caught from the Colts' Peyton Manning during the 2009 season.

It’s now official: The Broncos’ second round in the 2009 draft has to go down as the worst in franchise history.

Not one, not two, but three second-round picks flamed out. The latest, and last, was safety Darcel McBath, who was waived to make room for the signing of former Patriots nickelback Jonathan Whilhite.

McBath followed tight end Richard Quinn, who barely played and had one catch in two seasons before he was waived with an injury settlement in training camp, and cornerback Alphonso Smith, who was traded last year to Detroit for tight end Dan Gronkowski, who was cut.

The Broncos finished up their one-year agreement Monday with former Carolina tight end Dante Rosario, who had 32 catches last season for John Fox’s Carolina Panthers. Rosario will be walking out to watch practice momentarily.

The Broncos also signed tight end Daniel Fells, who had 41 catches for St. Louis last season, to a one-year contract. Fells is scheduled to arrive in Denver in time to watch the evening walkthrough.

Richard Quinn, the Broncos’ second-round draft pick in 2009 who entered camp as the expected starter as the blocking tight end, and Dan Gronkowski, who entered camp as the starting “receiving” tight end, are about to get some serious competition.

The Broncos had also agreed to terms with former Carolina tight end Dante Rosario pending his physical tonight, but they have signed St. Louis Rams tight end Daniel Fells, according to NFL sources.

John Fox is not going to have a new ”receiving” tight end this season. But the Broncos will. The Broncos do have an agreement in place with tight end Donte Rosario, pending a physical exam that he will take tonight. Rosario played the previous four seasons for Fox in Carolina.

Rosario, 26, had a career-high 32 catches last year, 26 in 2009 and 18 in 2008. He has the athleticism at 6-4, 250 pounds to be more productive in the passing game, but Fox’s offense in the past was geared around receiver Steve Smith and the running game.

I wrote a story on the Broncos’ 2011 tight end tandem of Richard Quinn and Dan Gronkowski, at least until fourth-round rookie Julius Thomas comes along, for tomorrow’s Denver Post. I got to thinking about how little the Broncos used their tight ends last season and got invested in some research. Here’s what I compiled:

The Broncos are scheduled to make 7 draft picks over the next three days, with the first pick coming in just over an hour when they will go on the clock with the No. 2 overall pick.

The Broncos ended up with that No. 2 pick after a dismal season in which the team finished 4-12, with the league’s worst defense. As if that wasn’t a painful enough reminder, let’s look at how the Broncos ended up with several of their other picks:

Make sure to check Mike Klis’ piece in today’s Denver Post (buy a newspaper! Keep us employed!) about what Thanksgivings were like for the Gronkowski family when the five boys — three of whom grew into NFL players — were all at home.

Dan Gronskowski, the Broncos tight end, is the oldest of the three NFL Gronks, and is the only one not playing in a game today. Younger brothers Rob, a tight end for the Patriots, and Chris, a fullback for the Cowboys, are playing in Detroit and Dallas, respectively.

Dan started the season with Detroit (he was traded to Denver in early September) so the family had been preparing for Dan and Rob to play each other for the first time. Instead, Dan will be at home (or here at Dove Valley) watching on television.

Mama Gronk, Diane, is in Detroit for Rob’s game. Papa Gronk, Gordie, is here in Denver to spend the holiday eating and watching football with Dan. That leaves Chris on his own in Dallas.

The NFL stat keepers reviewed the Broncos-49ers game two weeks ago and determined Kyle Orton was overlooked for 1 passing yard.

Upon further review, credit Orton with a 9-yard completion to Dan Gronkowski with 1:36 remaining in the game; not an 8-yard completion. And give Orton a 7-yard sack on the next play; not a 6-yard loss.

The yard meant nothing to the outcome as Orton threw an interception later in the drive to secure the 24-16 loss. But it does give Orton 2,510 passing yards at the halfway point, which puts him on a pace for 5,020. The NFL single-season record is 5,084 passing yards set by Miami’s Dan Marino in 1984.

The Broncos will play Sunday at Tennessee without two of their top special teams’ players. Fullback Spencer Larsen (ankle) and linebacker Wesley Woodyard (hamstring) have both been ruled out with injuries.

The team will miss Larsen on offense, sure, since is the only true fullback on the roster (Tight end Dan Gronkowski is learning the position and will line up in the backfield at times), but the team will most miss Larsen and Woodyard on the coverage and return units. Woodyard is also the team’s specials teams captain.

And those units right now could use all the help they can get. The Broncos are allowing an average of 27.7 yards per kickoff return and 16.0 yards per punt return, both ranking near the bottom of the league. The Broncos’ kickoff return group is ranked No. 29 at 18.3 yards per return.

With a roster loaded with defensive backs and wide receivers, the Broncos special teams units were on the smaller side to begin with. Losing two of the bigger, more physical players, surely can’t help.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.